Battle of Gallagher City Part 1: Jackson Valley
by KosherGreenBean
Summary: In the first of 5 installments, our survivors are stuck in a small town elementary school with guns and a plan to get to the once busy metropolis to safety.


The zombie apocalypse hit the small town of Jackson Valley hard. Sitting on the outskirts of the bustling metropolis that is Gallagher City was never easy for the small town. Gallagher City had all the stores and more that Jackson Valley had. The economy in Jackson Valley had gone south because of this, and people could hardly afford to keep up appearances. The town looked terribly run down next to Gallagher City's mile high skyscrapers and glass front apartments. Jackson Valley also only had a population of 514 people; minuscule to Gallagher City's 347,000.

So when a deadly virus hit the city, causing its citizens to die and reanimate and on some occasions mutate, Jackson Valley didn't stand a chance. Survivors ran for cover in the small town but soon they were all infected as well. The only true survivors holed themselves up in the basement of Jackson Valley Elementary School with their weapons, waiting for the chaos to die down and planning their escape.

"The best thing we can do is to get to the top of one of the skyscrapers in Gallagher City. We'll be visible to any helicopters that might fly over," said Louis. He had the perfect building in mind. Before this whole mess, he worked in one of the tallest buildings as a junior systems analyst for a communications company called InternIT. He knew the building well because he hated his job and was always looking for places to avoid working and his hardnosed boss, Mr. Flagstaff. Louis was finally gathering up the courage to quit, but now he didn't need to.

"That means getting out of here and through the city alive. Those zombies out there won't be making that easy for us. Isn't there another way?" asked Zoey, the youngest and only female survivor. She was understandably was a little skeptical. Even though Jackson Valley is close to Gallagher City, there are hundreds of thousands of the undead waiting for their blood just beyond the doors. She spent her whole first semester of college watching horror movie after horror movie after horror movie, but she never in a million years thought that she would be living one.

"Not really. Well, maybe, but getting to safety up high is the most logical idea I got right now," said Louis.

Bill, an elderly war veteran, sat atop a wooden box with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He wasn't afraid of what was going on out there. Back in his younger days he was shooting and stacking the bodies of enemy soldiers 10 feet high. This is all just another war to be won for him.

"We have enough guns between all of us and enough ammo to get us to a gun shop or something. God knows there's gotta be one of 'em somewhere. And a liquor store. Startin' to run out of smokes," he said.

"Man, you gotta give those things up," Louis complained. "It's bad enough that we're fighting to stay alive against the zombies, we don't need to be burying you because you died of lung cancer too."

Bill got to his feet and walked up to Louis. He put his face inches away from Louis's face and took a good long drag from his cigarette. Louis stared at him, worried about what he was going to do next. He was so worried that it took him a second to realize that Bill had blown all of the smoke right into his face.

"DUDE!" Louis yelled as he swatted the smoke away and coughed. Bill grabbed a shotgun that was leaning against one of the boxes and set it on Zoey's lap.

"Shoot them with this and you'll be fine. If we can all stay together we'll have a better chance of surviving."

"Ooh, in the head, just like in the movies, right?" Zoey excitedly asked as she examined the gun.

"Is it me or did I just hear a lil bit of blood lust coming from Zoey?" asked Francis, a tattooed biker. He should know what blood lust was like. When the infection hit and everyone started dying off and then coming back to life, he decided to have a little fun and shot everyone that didn't seem alive. When the citizens of Gallagher City started to flee, he went with them. Follow the fun. He sat on another wooden box, loading and cleaning his gun.

"Sons of bitches got their guts and shit all over my beautiful gun," Francis mumbled, "I hate it when that happens."

"The nurses station must use this basement for extra storage space, so lets grab what we can and let's go," commanded Bill. "We have to get to that building as quickly as we can.

The door to the basement opened and one by one the survivors stepped out into the dark hallway.

"It's so quiet out here," observed Zoey.

"Yeah, it is," whispered Francis, "I hate the quiet. Hold on a second." He turned on his flashlight to reveal a zombie leaning against one of the walls. Many more were sitting on the floor or wandering aimlessly.

"Oh God, this was a bad idea, let's just go back in the basement, forget I said anything and hope or pray that someone will search for us," stammered Louis. He spun around to run back into the basement but ran into Bill instead. Bill jabbed the barrel of his gun into Louis's chest and twirled his index finger in the air to tell Louis that unless he wanted to be shot right then and there, he had better turn around. Louis turned around and gulped.

"Is everybody ready?" asked Francis.

"Ready as I'll ever be," answered Zoey, her finger already on the trigger.

"Ready," said Bill.

"No…" whimpered Louis.

"Alright ladies, here we go!" shouted Francis. He fired the first shot into the temple of the nearest zombie. This caught the attention of the other zombies, and they began to attack. The hallway was filled with the sounds of horrible screams and gunfire.

"I don't understand!" Louis screamed, "I keep shooting them but they keep getting up! I don't know what I- AHH NO NO NO!!!" A shriek was heard and a hooded zombie jumped onto Louis and began ripping into his shirt and chest. Bill placed his gun against the head and pulled the trigger. With a resounding shot, the zombie fell to the floor.

"What the HELL was that thing?" yelled Louis. He got to his feet and checked his wounds. They weren't life threatening, but he was bleeding badly. He grabbed some gauze from his pocket and began to patch himself up.

"I don't know," said Francis. He snickered, "But it loved you."

Zoey stood over the body and looked down. "He doesn't look like any of the others, and it zeroed in on you."

"Like he was hunting you," said Bill, "Oh, and you shoot them in the head to keep them down. Pay attention next time."

The group started down the rest of the hallway and entered the cafeteria. More zombies awaited them there, but not as many as last time. They opened a set of doors that lead to the outside. There was a playground and field there, and no zombies. The entire lot was completely empty.

"I should be liking the sight of no zombies out here, but I don't like the looks of this," said Zoey.

"Why, why do you say that…I'm relieved," said Louis, rubbing his chest to soothe the pain from his hunter attack.

"Because usually when there is this eerie silence, something bad is going to happen," said Zoey.

-Snap-

"Quiet!" Bill whispered. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

"What was that?" Louis asked nervously.

"I don't know, just shut up for a second," whispered Bill. "Get your guns ready."

The survivors stood with their backs to each other, guns pointed in different directions. They heard footsteps coming closer and closer to them. Something emerged from behind the bushes.

"It's a…"

"It's a goddamn dog," said Bill with a hint of disbelief. The dog sat down in front of them and tilted his head to the side.

"I love dogs!" exclaimed Francis. He walked over and scratched the dog behing the ear. The dog smiled and began to tap his hind leg on the ground.

"You love dogs? That's surprising, considering that since we've met up you've been saying that you hate everything," said Zoey.

"Dogs are awesome, so loyal to people," Francis said as he continued to scratch the dog's head.

"I-I don't thing that you should be playing with that thing Francis. Wha-What if it's like them?" stuttered Louis as he was recovering from what felt like a heart attack. He began to back away from the dog.

"Zombies aren't interested in dogs, or anything that isn't human. They just leave them alone. He's fine," explained Zoey.

The dog began to bark. Louis ran and launched himself at it, but he missed and landed face first onto the ground. The other survivors tried to get the dog to be quiet, but he just kept barking louder and louder. Then he stopped. Zoey stared at it with a look that begged the question, "What was THAT all about?"

The dog let out a long and loud howl. A few seconds after that, the survivors heard a loud groaning noise.

"Which one of you just groaned?" asked Bill. The other 3 shrugged and exchanged worried looks.

"Wait, what is that over there?" Louis pointed at the rusty swing set to the left of them. A large, round being was staggering toward them, but before they could figure out who or what it was, they heard a retching sound. Their bodies were covered in green bile.

"Ugh!" "WHAT THE HELL?" "I'm going to be sick."

No one could see clearly through the thick slime, but they could hear screams. All too familiar screams.

"HERE THEY COME!" shouted Bill. The survivors began to shoot blindly in front of them, hoping to hit a zombie. The dog continued to bark. After the slime was cleared away from their eyes, the survivors saw wave upon wave of the undead.

"What are we going to do? There's too many of them!" shouted Louis.

"Just keep shooting!" yelled Zoey.

"I see a shed! A few yards that way! Let's go for it!" screamed Bill.

The survivors ran towards the shed, shooting along the way. Francis got the large blob of a human in his sights. He aimed for the stomach and shot it.

"BOOM baby!" he yelled.

"Francis, get in here!" shouted Zoey.

Francis sprinted for the shed and Bill closed the door behind him. Everyone sat down to catch their breath.

"You know what?" asked Francis.

"What?"

"I hate dogs," he replied.


End file.
